Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk was sentenced to five years in prison, a fine of 12 million won, and an additional fine of 6 million won on the 18th in the appeal trial of a case in which he was indicted on charges of corruption in children’s entrance exams. This is a higher sentence than the two years in prison and 6 million won in fines that former Minister Cho was sentenced to in the first trial in February. His wife, Jeong Kyung-sim, who was indicted along with former Minister Cho, was sentenced to two years in prison. The appellate court’s ruling in this case is scheduled to be delivered on February 8th next year.
Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk is attending the second trial held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of the 18th./News 1
The prosecution said at the appellate decision hearing held on this day in the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Woo-soo), “Former Minister Cho committed this crime (corruption in children’s entrance exams) through foul play using vested interests and networks. “Former Minister Cho has crossed the line of moral condemnation and gone into the realm of crimes such as forgery and manipulation, and the extent of this is serious,” he said. This is the same sentence that the prosecution sought in the first trial.
The prosecution also said, “(Former Minister Cho, who was the senior secretary for civil affairs in the Blue House under the Moon Jae-in administration) abused his authority as the top person responsible for establishing national discipline and committed a serious crime of betraying the president’s trust.” “It is a contradictory ‘naeronambul’ incident that imposes lenient standards on our side, but we are not reflecting on it,” he said.
Former Minister Cho denied the charges and criticized the prosecution for 14 minutes in his final argument, which he personally prepared. Former Minister Cho said, “After I was nominated as Minister of Justice in August 2019, I have been subjected to devastating attacks from prosecutors and the media,” and “I think my entire family has been subjected to social punishment for five years.” Her wife, Jeong, said, “My husband and I are not professors, and our daughter is not a doctor. “Her son also put down his master’s degree,” he said. “I beg for leniency so that my family can start over.”
Previously, former Minister Cho was indicted on 13 charges in 2019, including corruption in children’s entrance exams, ignoring the inspection of former Vice Mayor Yoo, and corruption related to private equity funds. In February of this year, the first trial found former Minister Cho guilty on 8 out of 13 charges and sentenced him to two years in prison. Mr. Jeong was sentenced to one year in prison. Mr. Jeong was sentenced to four years in prison by the Supreme Court on charges of corruption in children’s entrance exams and private equity funds, which were indicted separately from this case in January last year.
On this day, the prosecution also requested 2 years in prison and 1 year and 6 months in prison for former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Baek Won-woo and former Blue House Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyeong-cheol, who were indicted along with former Minister Cho on charges of falsifying the inspection of former Deputy Mayor Yoo. In the first trial, former Secretary Baek was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Former Secretary Park was acquitted in the first trial.
Previously, in the trial last month, the prosecution requested that former Busan Medical Center director Noh Hwan-jung be sentenced to six months in prison, the same sentence he was sentenced to in the first trial, and one year of probation. Former Director Noh is accused of violating the Anti-Corruption Act by giving a scholarship worth 6 million won to his daughter Cho Min when former Minister Cho was Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House.
2023-12-18 12:10:43
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